IHG’s Online Sustainability Program Recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – IHG Green Engage, the online sustainability program employed by over 2,600 InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) branded hotels worldwide, has received recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council for providing a streamlined approach to achieving important sustainability certifications.

IHG is the first hotel company to provide an approach to pre-certification for new-build hotels under the LEED 2009 for New Construction rating system. IHG was also the first hotel company to provide LEED pre-certification for existing hotels. Green certifications such as LEED allow the company to showcase its sustainability achievements to governments, businesses and environmentally conscious consumers.

Government and corporate clients increasingly ask for a hotel’s environmental credentials through the Response for Proposal (RFP) process. Therefore, internationally recognized sustainability certifications could eventually help improve the hotels’ profitability. The IHG Green Engage program provides for an accurate and streamlined approach for responding to RFP questions on sustainability.

The program helps hotels track their energy consumption, carbon footprint, water consumption, and waste diversion rate. It also enables efficient feeding of this information into the RFP format for hotels. IHG says that on average, energy is the second largest cost to hotels, and IHG Green Engage program allows it to track progress in becoming more energy efficient and achieving significant cost savings.

Paul Snyder, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, IHG, said that the company’s research shows that more than 70 percent of frequent travelers prefer hotels that are engaged with their environment. The company expects a growing number of guests who are keen to book greener hotel rooms. IHG is the only hotel company to build a comprehensive environmental management system for its hotels, and helping them drive profitability through sustainability.

Vikas is a staff writer for the Sustainable Development news and editorial section on Justmeans. He is an MBA with 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience and global travel. He is the author of "The Power of Money" (Scholars, 2003), a book that presents a revolutionary monetary economic theory on poverty alleviation in the developing world. Vikas is also the official writer for an international social project for developing nations "Decisions for Life" run in collaboration between the ILO, the University of Amsterdam and the Indian Institute of Management.